ISE Founder Sells Nearly 5% Of His Stake In Electronic Exchange

William Porter earlier this week sold nearly 5% of his shares in the International Securities Exchange, one of the leading electronic options exchanges, according to documents obtained by DealBreaker. Porter, who also founded E*Trade and sits on its board, was one of the founders of ISE. He served on the board until term limits forced him to leave recently. Although he is the third largest holder of ISE shares, the sales have not yet been disclosed. Porter sold over 95,000 shares for around six million dollars. The average share price was near $66 dollars. Prior to selling these shares, he owned around 5.1% of the company and will likely be required to file a Schedule 13D report noting the sale with the SEC. These sales appear to bring him just below the 5% threshold for reporting to the SEC, so subsequent sales will not need to be disclosed. The ISE is currently the subject of a takeover bid by Eurex, Deutsche Börse's derivatives arm. A spokeperson for ISE said that the company believes the transaction will close in the fourth quarter. William Porter could not be reached for comment. The International Securities Exchange said it did not comment on trades in its shares.